Your Body Is an API: 9 Gadgets for Tracking Health and Fitness

The "quantified self": It's a lifestyle philosophy that says tracking one's own personal data -- calories burned, hours slept, miles run -- is the path to self-realization. All this data-tracking requires gadgets, and many innovative specimens were on display at CES 2012 last month.

When it comes to your health, correcting bad behavior after periodic visits to the doctor is a step in the right direction. And it's even more likely that you'll make positive lifestyle adjustments based on, say, weekly visits to a personal trainer or daily weigh-ins on your bathroom scale. But turn yourself into a platform of analysis in the Internet of Things, and you’ve got real-time feedback loops to help keep you on target and alert you to problems. Your body is an API that developers are just beginning to figure out.

Here are nine of the most interesting personal data-tracking gadgets that we saw at CES.

Basis B1 Band

Launching this spring, the Basis B1 Band is a wrist-mounted body monitor with five built-in sensors, the most intriguing of which is an optical heart-rate monitor. The device shines light through your skin and reads your pulse by measuring blood flow, eliminating the need for an annoying chest strap.

The B1 also includes thermometers for measuring both skin and ambient temperatures, a standard accelerometer for recording movement, and galvanic skin response sensors for detecting sweat levels (and, thereby, reporting physical exertion).

The data is uploadable via USB or Bluetooth. Basis algorithms then crunch the data and display it graphically in a browser-based Dashboard. The default presentation is exceedingly simple, but you can parse the data for a more granular snapshot. There are also gaming and social aspects for added stickiness.

The B1 is set to launch this spring for $199.

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

BodyMedia LINK Armband

Thanks to partnerships with 24Hour Fitness, Jenny Craig, and Jillian Michaels, BodyMedia’s sensor-laden armbands have become a fairly common sight (you’ve probably seen them strapped to fleshy triceps, poking out of t-shirts). The units measure heat flux, galvanic skin response (i.e., sweat) and motion via a three-way accelerometer, all in the service of tracking sleep quality and caloric burn.

BodyMedia says the devices collect more than 5,000 data points per minute. And it's actually more data than BodyMedia even knows what to do with. To this end, the company has partnered with IBM, which has assigned talent from its Watson artificial intelligence team to look for new ways to mine the data.

Input your food intake via the BodyMedia website or smart phone app, and you’ve got a fairly current feedback loop for weight loss. The new $199 LINK model does everything described above, but adds Bluetooth connectivity for uploading data to your smart phone, paving the way for much more constant feedback.

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

BodyMedia Patch

Scheduled to go on sale later this year, the Patch is a disposable, adhesive body monitor designed to last just one week. The company expects it to appeal to healthcare providers looking for activity snapshots of their patients, as well as to customers who want to try out the BodyMedia ecosystem at a lower price.

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

First Person Vision

Carnegie Mellon University’s Quality of Life Center is an engineering and research hub focused on technology for the elderly and disabled, but a lot of what comes out of the center has potential for much broader applications.

First Person Vision is a prototype eye-tracking system that could radically transform sports training and broadcasting. As an adaptive tool, eye-tracking systems can help the physically disabled more easily register intent — for example, telling motorized wheelchairs where to go, and robotic arms what to pick up.

The helmet-mounted system on display at CES could be used for driver training, but we’d like to see it in, say, Formula 1. The occasional in-car camera is always a fun addition to a racing broadcast, but a camera capturing a driver’s point-of-view could be even better. Likewise, units mounted in quarterback helmets could be used for training players on how to read the Steelers secondary or, again, for a more in-depth viewer experience.

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

iCoach Suite

Also out of the Carnegie Mellon Quality of Life Center is the iCoach Suite, an experimental platform for balance and motion training. Researchers are using smart phones and wearable motion sensors to create applications for numerous types of users.

The hat-mounted iPhone shown here is running an app designed to guide patients with balance issues through therapy exercises. The app can check their form when they aren’t able to do their workouts in the presence of a therapist, and patients can also send their data to healthcare providers for analysis. Similar systems are in development for ACL surgery rehab and similar post-op scenarios.

Researchers are also developing iCoach Suite applications for yoga and other exercises, and for users like delivery people, who are susceptible to repetitive-motion stress and other injuries. Just like your car starts beeping if you don’t buckle your seat belt, your smart phone could be set to vibrate if your warrior pose gets sloppy, or if you lift with your back instead of your legs.

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

MotoACTV

Motorola’s MotoACTV, which debuted in November, is an Android-powered workout computer and MP3 player. The $249 touchscreen device uses GPS to track distance and speed for running and cycling workouts. There are also accessories like chest straps for heart rate, cadence sensors and handlebar mounts for cycling, and Bluetooth headphones for cutting those audio cords.

In addition to importing playlists from iTunes and Windows Media Player, the device also tracks which songs you perform best to, and generates a smart playlist to help you get the most out of your workouts.

MotoACTV can connect with Android-powered smartphones, allowing you to handle calls and texts through the device. And thanks to built-in WiFi, it can also upload your workout data to Motorola’s cloud-based Training Portal for tracking and analysis.

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

Kinomap

Indoor cycling can be pretty grim, but for the time- or weather-challenged, it can also sometimes be the only option. Kino, a new app-based service, looks to make the experience a bit more social and enjoyable.

The app is a portal to a library of user-generated, geolocated videos of bike rides from around the world. Users with GPS video cameras can record and upload videos of any route. Then any portal member — friends and strangers — can watch the video as he or she rides along on an indoor trainer. In addition to the video, users see a map of the route and an elevation profile, both with avatars to indicate where the rider is along the route.

But here’s where it gets interesting: If you’ve got an Ant+ dongle for your iPad ($79 from Wahoo fitness) and an Ant+ speedometer on your bike, you can sync the video to your workout. The playback will speed up or slow down depending on your relative speed. You can also set up a remote “ride” with up to four friends, using multiplayer functionality in Game Center. Each of you will be able to see other riders’ avatars on the map, and even use voice chat to talk smack to anyone falling off the back.

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

Recon MOD Live

If you need better data and HD video to prove just how amazing (or idiotic) you are on the slopes, Recon is making it easier than ever. The company’s Android-powered HUD snow goggles use GPS and accelerometer data to display stats like speed, total vertical, and air time on a tiny in-goggle LCD screen. The technology debuted in 2010, built into a special model from Zeal Optics. Recon has since made some huge hardware and software modifications, and announced at CES several new partnerships that should broaden the appeal of the technology.

Recon has taken the guts out of those debut goggles and redesigned them as a standalone unit, called MOD ($300) that can be bought separately and mounted in compatible goggles from several manufacturers, including recently announced partners Smith and Scott. The Bluetooth-enabled MOD Live model ($400) can connect with Android phones for calls and texts (iOS compatibility is coming next season). A wearable joystick controller lets you scroll through the functions on the go.

Data and images display on an LCD screen below the wearer’s natural line of sight. Images? Yes. Recon has announced a partnership with Contour, makers of our favorite HD POV cameras. MOD Live can display feeds from Contour cameras, so that users can set up shots and tweak settings without having to remove their helmets.

Check back for a full review later this month.

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

Life Technologies Ion Proton

Nothing quantifies your very life essence like having your entire genome sequenced, and this $149,000 tabletop device can do it in a few hours for just $1,000 per test -- a lot less expensive than the current cheapest rate of $5,000.

Where most sequencers use optical readings, the Ion Proton is built around disposable semiconductor chips similar to digital-camera sensors. This technological leap brings the cost of sequencing an entire genome in line with a lot of regular clinic tests. So, how much do you really want to know about yourself?